Ukrainian special forces may be targeting Wagner mercenaries in Sudan purges – Kyiv Post

The Kyiv Post published two new videos, in which Ukrainian special forces are allegedly hunting militants of the Wagner Group in Sudan.

The outlet's source in the security and defense sector of Ukraine reported that an operation is currently underway in this African country to "clean up the Wagner PMC, their local terrorists and the Russian Federation's special services."

"The footage probably shows the work of special units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR)," the newspaper added.

Andriy Yusov, a representative of the military intelligence, told LIGA.net that the agency could neither confirm nor deny this information.

"In this situation, one should perhaps remember the quote of Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov that Russian war criminals and actually their henchmen will be punished, no matter where they were and in what part of the world they were," he said.

For security reasons, the employee of the special services refused to disclose the details of the operation, notes the Kyiv Post.

According to the source, the videos were filmed over the past two weeks in a city in Sudan, but the publication has not yet independently verified any of the videos.

The video attached at the beginning of the news was filmed from a drone hovering at a height of 200-400 meters above the ground, Ukrainian special forces are not visible in the footage, the outlet reports.

However, several men who "appear to be targets" were filmed running through the streets of a densely populated village or town, Kyiv Post reports.

There are several explosions in the video, the publication writes that they may be from a grenade launcher or medium-caliber howitzer shells.

More powerful explosions cause fire. It is not clear where the shelling is coming from, some of the shells hit the roofs of buildings. The victims of the blows are not visible.

Another video, apparently taken at night by a drone in the infrared spectrum, shows a small unit of fighters surrounding a building, with targets, armed individuals, highlighted on the video.

As Kyiv Post writes, in other footage, one of the attackers uses a hand-held grenade launcher to shoot into the building's window.

Then the infrared camera footage is interspersed with the regular one, a series of explosions in the buildings are visible, some of the people fleeing from inside, and someone returning fire.

Ukraine has not officially recognized the use of units in Sudan and the conduct of operations against terrorists of the Wagner Group there.

On September 20, CNN reported that a series of drone strikes near the capital of Sudan against militants supported by the Wagner Group was very "characteristic" of Ukrainian special forces.

A representative of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence then told news agency RBC-Ukraine that the service could neither confirm nor deny this information.

On October 13, blogger Orest Sokhar, citing a source in the Ukrainian special services, published a video, in which Ukrainian intelligence is likely attacking the RSF paramilitary group in Sudan.

Street fighting in Khartoum began on April 15, 2023 as a result of disagreements between two local warlords, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. Both held senior positions in Sudan's military government, which was formed after the 2019 coup that ousted the country's longtime leader, Omar al-Bashir.

On April 25, Ukrainian intelligence evacuated citizens of Ukraine, Georgia and Peru from Khartoum.

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Hamdan Dagalo, opposed the government, saying they wanted to establish democracy in the country. Since the end of May, according to the agreement of the warring parties, a truce regime has been in effect in Khartoum. On September 17, the fighting resumed.